Ignis Scientia (Japanese: イグニス・スキエンティア, Hepburn: Igunisu Sukientia) is a character from Square Enix's Final Fantasy series. He first appears in the anime web series Brotherhood: Final Fantasy XV as an advisor for the royal family of the Kingdom of Lucis and a personal attendant of its heir apparent prince Noctis Lucis Caelum. In the 2016 mainline title Final Fantasy XV, Ignis and his companions oppose the rival empire of Niflheim and its efforts to dominate the world of Eos. The character's story arc in the main narrative of XV culminates in him being permanently blinded, although he eventually acclimatizes to his condition and continues to be an active member of the player's party. He is the title character of the post-launch downloadable content (DLC) pack Episode Ignis, which explores the circumstances that led to his blinding.
Created and co-designed by Tetsuya Nomura for the precursor to Final Fantasy XV, a spin-off titled Final Fantasy Versus XIII, Ignis' personality was designed to be expressed in his looks, the way he speaks, and his gestures. Ignis is closely associated with the game's food and recipe mechanic, which confers various statistical benefits for the party following each session. Outside of Final Fantasy XV, Ignis is featured in adaptations of the game's universe in other media, as well as several crossover appearances.
Following the release of XV, Ignis has been positively received by video game publications, with some lauding him as a well developed supporting character and one of the best characters in the Final Fantasy franchise. Ignis' mannerisms as well as his association with the food and cooking mechanic of XV has attracted a substantial fan following surrounding the character, whereas the representation of his disability later in the game's narrative have attracted praise as a compelling and inspiring portrayal of an individual living with a disability.
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Concept and design
Ignis is presented as an attendant who serves the royal household of the Kingdom of Lucis, as well as a highly trained tactical advisor who supports its king in a manner that parallels the role of the United Kingdom's Lord Chamberlain of the Household. Out of the main cast, Ignis went through the fewest changes despite the technological improvements that occurred during the shift from Versus XIII and Final Fantasy XV. The character's full name was originally given as Ignis Stupeo Scientia in promotional material, but is not used following the release of XV. To reflect his position as Noctis's protector from a young age, he was made to look more toned and his musculature was developed, particularly around the neck. Care was taken to retain his intellectual look. According to game director Hajime Tabata, his team strove for a game design early on in the development that follows a cycle where characters have adventures during the daytime, and at night they camp and eat in order to prepare themselves for the following day. His role as the party's cook came about when considering which among them would be most likely to take up that duty. His cooking skills are explained in-game to exchanges with Noctis during their early lives.
The English localization of XV was led by Dan Inoue, who wrote Ignis to be a suave and logical character like a younger version of James Bond or Sherlock Holmes. Ignis speaks with a British accent while the other main characters spoke with an American accent; the localization team intended to convey the notion that the game's cast of characters hail from different cultural regions of the world of Eos. Ignis is voiced by Adam Croasdell in English, while his counterpart in Japanese is Mamoru Miyano. Croasdell described Ignis as a cerebral and organized planner who is highly capable, and "quite funny without meaning to be", and also the serious and responsible member who tries to keep the rest of the group out of trouble. To prepare for his role, Croasdell frequently sang to himself in the car, and consumed green apples to suppress clicking sounds in the mouth whenever he speaks into the microphone. Reflecting on his experience working in the game, Croasdell said that he had ample opportunities to draw upon his life experiences and project them into his portrayal of Ignis' perspective. He also noted that the entire cast had the opportunity to record together on numerous occasions, which helped build the repartee and bond between the performers whenever they would perform as their characters. Croasdell was particularly fond of the vocalized variations of Noctis' nickname ("Noct") whenever he performed in character as Ignis.
Appearances
Final Fantasy XV
Ignis is introduced as a member of the royal retinue of Noctis Lucis Caelum, crown prince of Lucis, a monarchical state in the world of Eos. He is the primary designated driver of the party's automobile, the Regalia, and would prepare meals that provides various statistical benefits for the party whenever they set camp. Ignis wields daggers and polearms in battle; when controlling Noctis, the player can issue him commands and co-opt moves with him, including the ability to add elemental damage to Noctis's weapon. Following a major 2018 update for XV, player may assume direct control of Ignis, who may infuse his own dagger attacks with elemental damage. Each element gives him a different property in battle: fire focuses on heavy single-target damage, lighting allows him to cover vast distances between enemies, and ice inflicts area damage to groups of enemies in close proximity to each other. Ignis has a composed and serious personality, though he frequently exchanges banter with the rest of the party and occasionally make puns or sarcastic quips.
Alongside Gladiolus Amicitia and Prompto, Ignis accompanies Noctis on a road journey to the city-state of Altissia, where he is set to marry Lady Lunafreya Nox Fleuret from the realm of Tenebrae. Shortly after the party's arrival in Altissia, the city-state became the site of a massive battle involving an invading Niflheim force and one of the deities of Eos, Leviathan. Ignis is permanently blinded in the aftermath of Altissia's destruction, which instigates a period of conflict and tension between as the other members of the retinue struggle to process their hardships and loss. The world is soon overtaken by a plague of darkness and monstrous daemons unleashed by Ardyn Izunia, the former chancellor of the Niflheim empire, with Ignis and the others separated from Noctis following an incident at Gralea, the capital city of Niflheim. Ignis eventually acclimatizes to his disability and learns to fight effectively as a Daemon hunter without his eyesight. Following their reunion a decade later, Ignis accompanies Noctis to his final confrontation with Ardyn in the ruins of Insomnia, the former Lucian capital.
Episode Ignis reveals that Ignis was raised alongside Noctis from a young age, and that they were both close as children. The DLC episode recounts Ignis' activities during the Niflheim invasion of Altissia, where he temporarily works with Lunafreya's brother Ravus as they work together to search for Noctis and Lunafreya. The DLC reveals how Ignis became blinded after he uses Noctis' family heirloom, the magical Ring of the Lucii, to fight off Ardyn. Episode Ignis also features an alternate ending as part of its branching narrative, where Ignis successfully defeats Ardyn and manages to prevent the world's grim fate from the original timeline to come to pass using his ingenuity.
Other appearances
Brotherhood: Final Fantasy XV establishes that Ignis continues to care for Noctis after he moves out of the royal residence to further his studies, and makes regular visits to his residence to perform domestic duties.
Ignis has appeared in numerous video games outside of Final Fantasy XV and its associated downloadable content, including Final Fantasy XV: A New Empire, King's Knight: Wrath of the Dark Dragon, Theatrhythm Final Fantasy All-Star Carnival, Final Fantasy Record Keeper, and Dissidia Final Fantasy Opera Omnia.
Promotion and reception
In early 2016, action figures of Ignis alongside Noctis, Gladiolus and Prompto were produced by Play Arts Kai and distributed for sale by Square Enix on its online store to promote the then-upcoming release of Final Fantasy XV. In February 2017, Square Enix announced that the character's birthday is February 7, and released a mask of Ignis with instructions for players to print and cutout to celebrate the occasion.
Ignis ranked No. 28 in the Top 75 of NHK's "All-Final Fantasy Grand Poll of Japanese players" in 2020, which tallied over 468,000 votes. Game Informer, in its "RPG of the Year" awards, awarded the "Best Sidekick" category to Ignis for the "multifaceted ways he helps the group and the sacrifices he makes". Ignis is a popular subject for fan mods on the PC version of XV following the release of its mod tools on Steam Workshop in June 2018.
In a discussion among US Gamer staff for their nominees for the best 2016 sidekick character in video gaming, Kat Bailey said Ignis was her choice, explaining that "the turn his character takes and the effect that it has on the party" is why she thought of him as the most significant among the secondary characters of XV. Assessing the Episode Duscae demo for XV in 2015, Ron Duwell from Techno Buffalo found Ignis to be its most memorable character as well as his favorite due to the nature of his interactions with Noctis, commenting that it is an uncommon dynamic and less cliched then the common "childhood friends" trope found in most JRPG's. Peter Glagowski from Destructoid said Ignis was his favorite character of the group. Samuel Roberts from PC Gamer chose Ignis as his favorite character from the Final Fantasy series, and credited the game's "more detailed interactions" with party companions in comparison to past titles as an important influence on his choice. Peter Glagowski from Destructoid and Ash Parrish from Kotaku considered Ignis to be their favorite character amongst the quartet. Her overall second favorite character in the Final Fantasy series, Parrish appreciated his characterization as a "fiercely intelligent and loyal control freak" who is determined to feed the group, as well as his "borderline stoic exterior" who becomes highly protective of his group when they are threatened. John-Paul Jones from Green Man Gaming included Ignis in his 2021 list of the best Final Fantasy characters, and called him the "bedrock of Final Fantasy XV's quartet of road trip-hopping protagonists". Ignis is recognized as a notable role for Croasdell, who was nominated for Best Male Vocal Performance in Video Games at the 2017 BTVA Awards for his performance as the character.